Winter 2022: Editor’s Letter: Intermediate Students: Mind the Gap
Winter 2022; Vol. 13, No. 4
Arguably, facilitating student learning and performance during the intermediate-level years is where many teachers spend most of their teaching hours. Intermediate piano music takes years to work through and as the music becomes more demanding, these years coincide with activities that compete for students’ attention....
Teaching Piano in the Time of COVID-19
COVID-19 Special Issue; Vol. 12, No. 2
Excellent piano teachers negotiate the delicate balance between preparing and planning for each lesson, and responding to unanticipated student needs during the lesson. These two skills, careful preparation for upcoming lessons and thoughtful flexibility during actual lessons, are essential during the COVID-19 global pandemic. So,...
Teaching Music Online: Past, Present, and Future Opportunities
COVID-19 Special Issue; Vol. 12, No. 2
LEARNING BEFORE 2020 While teaching online is a new adventure for many professional musicians, it is an extension of distance education that began in the United States in the nineteenth century and was subsequently developed in Europe, Canada, and Australia.1 Often, these were courses offered...
Spring 2022: Editor’s Letter: Music Making For All
Spring 2022; Vol. 14, No. 1
Fifty years ago, in her “Questions and Answers” column from March 1971, Frances Clark wrote: “If [your students] continue not only to play the music they studied with you but to explore other music; if they are part of the life of their musical communities; if...
The Gilmore International Piano Festival: An Engine for Creative Activity
Spring 2022; Vol. 14, No. 1
Every two years, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the surrounding region is overtaken by piano enthusiasts participating in the Gilmore International Piano Festival. This year, on April 8 and from April 24 through May 15, the Festival will feature classical and jazz performances, master classes, lectures, film screenings,...
How do you help an adult student who has ingrained poor technical habits?
Keyboard Companion Spring 2008; Vol. 19, No. 1
from the series: It’s Never Too Late: Adult Piano Study Michelle Conda, Editor by The Adult Learning Committee of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy Okay, let’s face it – I’m not talking about the good habits your adult students have, but the bad habits that form...
Spring 2020: Editor’s Letter: Transforming Pianists Through Foundational Pedagogy
Spring 2020; Vol. 12, No. 1
In this issue of the Piano Magazine, we explore the impact of inspirational pedagogy on pianists of all ages and abilities. Teaching and learning piano requires dedication to developing skills, such as technique, voicing, balance, sight reading, and improvising, to name just a few. But,...
September 2018: Editor’s Page
New Beginnings September, this moment of new beginnings for both teachers and students, always seems to me like a time when anything might be possible. After several decades of teaching, I still look forward to the first day of classes and the first week of lessons as much as I did when...
November 2018: Editor’s Page
November 2018; Vol. 10, No. 6
Celebrating American Music In this issue, we celebrate American music by taking a closer look at two composers. One whose name and music is familiar throughout the world; the other remains largely unknown even to professional musicians in her home country. In Celebrating Leonard Bernstein at 100, you’ll have an opportunity to explore Bernstein’s...
November 2018: Piano News
November 2018; Vol. 10, No. 6
The 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition winners were announced on September 15, 2018. In April 2018, auditions were held in Singapore, Berlin, and New York. From the preliminary round, twenty-four pianists performed in the second round of competition at the University of Leeds, UK. Following the semi-final and final rounds, twenty-year-old Eric Lu, from the...
Autumn 2020: Editor’s Letter
Autumn 2020; Vol. 12, No. 4
One of the hallmarks of being human and living in a knowledge-based society is the ability to learn and adapt throughout our lives.1 Once thought to be a purview of youth, adults now recognize the necessity of continuing to increase knowledge and develop skills. Although...
Summer 2020: Editor’s Letter: Summer: A Time for Renewal of Musical Passion
Summer 2020; Vol. 12, No. 3
Typically, summer is a time of rest and renewal for piano teachers and performers. Even those who are lucky enough to perform and participate in summer festivals benefit from the change in pace and location. Finding time for purposeful renewal is crucial this year. Although...
An Interview with Jane Magrath and E. L. Lancaster
Summer 2019; Vol. 11, No. 3
At the 2019 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, Jane Magrath and E. L. Lancaster will receive the NCKP Lifetime Achievement Award. Magrath grew up in South Carolina and earned degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wesleyan College, and a D.M. from...
Spring 2019: Editor’s Page
Spring 2019; Vol. 11, No. 2
Performance Practice I began subscribing to Clavier within the first month of my undergraduate studies; it was required reading in my studio, but it became essential reading as I developed my piano skills. I initiated my Keyboard Companion subscription once I moved to the United States for graduate studies and became...
January 2019: Editor’s Page
January 2019; Vol. 11, No. 1
Celebrating Ten Years of Clavier Companion: Returning to Our Roots and Embracing Change If we do not change, we risk failing to grow and evolve as human beings. The same can be said for organizations and for resources that we depend on for our professional development. At the dawn of the new...